i5 750 or 650/661?

[collettnj]

I'm looking at building a new desktop to replace my aging laptop which is well out of warranty, and seems to be running hotter and hotter. I'm worried that it'll die on me, and I'd like to build a relatively quick desktop for general use - watching 1080p videos, a bit of casual video editing, playing about with photos (in picasa mainly, nothing fancy), listening to music, skype etc.

I have a 625W enermax MODU82+ PSU (from an old build) available for this, and a case (Akasa Eclipse62).

Effectively all I need then is CPU, CPU cooler, motherboard, RAM, HDD (Spinpoint F3 500GB), and DVD drive

I'm looking to spend around £500 including a monitor. I'd be happy with 20". This one uses VGA apparently - is there any reason not to go with it? Will I notice a decrease in quality compared to DVI?

As for the computer spec. Which would be the best bet - i5 750 or i5 650/661? How much of a performance hit would I take with an i3 over an i5 dual? I'd like to stick with Intel for this I think.

The i5 750 is cheaper than the i5 661, but the motherboards cost more (for one capable of mild overclocking I'd assume you'd be looking at one around the £100 mark?), and I'd have to get a graphics card.

Would I need a dedicated graphics card (vs the integrated graphics with the i5 duals) for the uses I described above? If so, I guess the i5 750 would be the best bet, given that the principal advantage of the duals is lost?

Could you suggest:

A) Which CPU would serve me best?
B) CPU cooler?
C) Which motherboard to go for, given that at some point in the future I might want a mild overclock.
D) Memory - I think I read somewhere that the i3 and i5 duals only support RAM up to 1333MHz. Is this correct? Presumably if I went i5 750 I'd want 1600MHz, which would likely add to the cost. What would you recommend?

Thanks!

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Look at this thread:

http://forums.hexus.net/hexus-hardwa...ts-needed.html

Look at these reviews:

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets...oc.aspx?i=3704

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu...le-review.html

The Core i3 530 is beaten by the X4 630 in video editing and is cheaper too!!

TBH, the Core i3 CPUs are overpriced for the performance they offer and the cost of the motherboards is absurd considering the fact that they have less functionality on them unlike the socket 775 and 1366 motherboards.

If you want to stay with Intel I would get the Pentium G6950 or better still wait a while.

Intel has to clear the massive inventory of Core2 chips still left before the socket 1156 Core i3 and Pentium processors start to drop in price. Also cheaper H55 motherboards will probably start to be released too.

[collettnj]

I looked at that thread - would the AMD not lose its advantage in how easy the i5/i3s are to overclock?

What features/functionality are the H55 motherboards lacking that I might need? Would, say, either of these:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Gigab...s-RAID-VGA-ATX

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Gigab...-3GB-s-ATX-VGA

..boards be capable of any form of decent overclocking? The reviews that I have read on the subject were using the more expensive ASUS products.

Given that I'd ideally like to build this within the next couple of weeks (this laptop crashes frequently, even after reinstalls of windows), would the i5 750 offer me better value for money?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I looked at that thread - would the AMD not lose its advantage in how easy the i5/i3s are to overclock?

What features/functionality are the H55 motherboards lacking that I might need? Would, say, either of these:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Gigab...s-RAID-VGA-ATX

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Gigab...-3GB-s-ATX-VGA

..boards be capable of any form of decent overclocking? The reviews that I have read on the subject were using the more expensive ASUS products.

Given that I'd ideally like to build this within the next couple of weeks (this laptop crashes frequently, even after reinstalls of windows), would the i5 750 offer me better value for money?

An overclock cannot be guaranteed for any processor IMHO and also the fact that many reviews do very minimal stability too is not grounds for confidence too.

Anyway most people do not overclock especially for a general purpose PC which does need a lot of processing power either. Considering that an Athlon II X4 620 and a DDR3 785G based motherboard will cost under under £140 whereas a Core i3 530 and a cheap H55 based motherboard will cost at least £170 to £180 and not be much different in performance for non-gaming use this is why I suggested the AMD based setup.

For the needs you suggest the Pentium G6950 for around £70 would be ideal if you want to stick with Intel. It will offer enough performance for what you need and it should be a decent overclocker from what I have seen.

The Core i3 530 is not the best value for money either but perhaps you should have a look at it since it has HT.

I would probably go for the mATX based motherboard as you could do an SFF build based around an SFF case.

The other alternative is to perhaps look for a Core i3 based laptop.

There is this Acer for around £500:

http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/133461...k/Product.html

[Terbinator]

Core i5 750.

[Domestic_Ginger]

Cat has a point. virtually any system you build is going to be excessively powerful for for your needs. I would get a better monitor and skimp more on the rest.

If given the choice and had to get a 750 or 650; it would be the 750. Not Sure I am a huge fan of the onboard IGP unless there are large savings to be had.

[collettnj]

If I were to go for the 750, what cooler/motherboard/ram/graphics card would you suggest? I just want to get an idea of pricing..

[Terbinator]

If I were to go for the 750, what cooler/motherboard/ram/graphics card would you suggest? I just want to get an idea of pricing..

Depending on what your after the: Asus P55 Deluxe, Gigabyte UD4, and MSI-GD65 and upwards are decent mid-range boards to begin with, all offer corssifreX and SLI (IIRC) and offer 4 DIMM slots and the usual assortment of OC and decent BIOS features. Both Asus and gigabyte offer boards at the mid-range level with support for USB3 and SATA3.

You should be looking at 4Gb of RAM with no real reason to pay extra money for RAM faster than 1600MHz.

Edit: read your post and the lower end boards for <£90 would be fine such as the Gigabyte UD2 and the ASRock boards.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Depending on what your after the: Asus P55 Deluxe, Gigabyte UD4, and MSI-GD65 and upwards are decent mid-range boards to begin with, all offer corssifreX and SLI (IIRC) and offer 4 DIMM slots and the usual assortment of OC and decent BIOS features. Both Asus and gigabyte offer boards at the mid-range level with support for USB3 and SATA3.

You should be looking at 4Gb of RAM with no real reason to pay extra money for RAM faster than 1600MHz.

Edit: read your post and the lower end boards for <£90 would be fine such as the Gigabyte UD2 and the ASRock boards.

You do realise that the OP already has a Core i7 920 at nearly 4GHZ, a P5B Deluxe WiFi and a GTX280??

[Terbinator]

You do realise that the OP already has a Core i7 920 at nearly 4GHZ, a P5B Deluxe WiFi and a GTX280??

I don't follow ? i'm offering him some suggestions and 920's and P5B's aren't even compatible.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I don't follow ? i'm offering him some suggestions and 920's and P5B's aren't even compatible.

Their main PC has those specs - they are looking at one for web browsing,light video editing, and watching some videos.

This is why a Core i3 530 would be cheaper and still do the same job. It would also consume less power too.

[collettnj]

The 920 is for Flight Sim X and a few games - I use a laptop for everything else, which seems to be on the verge of dieing, so needs replacement.

The i5 750 is by no means final, I'm just trying to put together some cost figures to work out the best bang for the buck.

This memory looks very good for the price, and from what I've seen, the G-skill stuff is the preferable choice of many at the moment.

What would you recommend for a CPU cooler? The Titan Fenrir is a 'hot seller' on scan, and I've seen some good things about it. Is it a safe bet?

What would you recommend for graphics? I was recommended (and subsequently bought) an ATI 4550 for a build for my father a couple of months ago, but there are none in stock on scan anymore. What is the best budget buy nowadays?


EDIT: If I went for the Core i3, which would drop the price considerably, would the integrated graphics be fully capable of serving my needs?

[Terbinator]

Their main PC has those specs - they are looking at one for web browsing,light video editing, and watching some videos.

This is why a Core i3 530 would be cheaper and still do the same job. It would also consume less power too.

With his descision to stay Intel its n00b to not spend the extra £40-50 imo, i also noted he could get some cheaper motherboards - heck, even a H55 board and just band in a 4550.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

With his descision to stay Intel its n00b to not spend the extra £40-50 imo, i also noted he could get some cheaper motherboards - heck, even a H55 board and just band in a 4550.

Considering that even a £50 E6300 and a £60 motherboard with a modern IGP would probably run what the OP needs for a couple of years I find that buying overspecced system for internet browsing OTT. This is why I mentioned the socket 1156 Pentium G6950 in the first place which is £70 and even the Core i3 530 has an IGP too and under £100 which means the OP will have saved nearer £70 to £80 over a Core i5 750. The money saved is better spent towards a better monitor or something like a decent sound card and some nice speakers even.

[Terbinator]

Well i still think hes best going i5 750, in which case no overclock will be required as it will be fast enough at stock and with Turbo Mode and will last longer.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

What would you recommend for graphics? I was recommended (and subsequently bought) an ATI 4550 for a build for my father a couple of months ago, but there are none in stock on scan anymore. What is the best budget buy nowadays?


EDIT: If I went for the Core i3, which would drop the price considerably, would the integrated graphics be fully capable of serving my needs?

The Core i3 530 is faster than a E8400 and Q6600 in image editing and video encoding:

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cpu...0-cpu-review/6

Like the Core i3 530 the Pentium G6950 also has an IGP.

The newer generation IGPs from Intel seem a bigger improvement and I don't see why they should not do the job. For media decoding duties even the earlier G45 was good enough for Core2 processors.

ATI are releasing the low end HD5000 series cards in the next few weeks so this could explain any shortages of HD4550 cards.

Considering you are using a notebook already it would be worth looking at the new Core i3 based laptops which should be quite speedy for the price and also should run cooler hopefully.